


Tea Party

by likebunnies



Category: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Genre: F/M, Ficlet, Friendship, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Partnership, Season/Series 01, Tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 11:15:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11035065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likebunnies/pseuds/likebunnies
Summary: Set in season one, Abbie and Crane have their own little tea party.





	Tea Party

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr's noisywastelandphilospher suggested this prompt. Thank you for helping me get to my goal!

“Crane, no.” 

“Lieutenant, I can't possibly allow for this abuse to continue!” 

“Actually... you can. Come on, Crane. Let's go,” Abbie said, pulling him by the sleeve of his beloved coat. He escaped her grasp and for a moment, she thought about putting him in handcuffs again but decided against it. For now. 

It had been a long couple of weeks introducing him to the 21st century world. She had heard more of his rants than she cared to so if he was going to rant about how to make the perfect cup of tea, he might as well do it to the poor teenager behind the counter. 

Thankfully, she didn't take him to her favorite Starbucks. She would have to break him into that gently. For now, she was letting him loose in a local tea and coffee house on a Sunday afternoon when it was nearly empty with just a few students seated here and there attempting to study. 

Unfortunately, the barista didn't know what she was in for. 

“Miss... Miss Mandy...” Crane said, reading the young woman's name badge. “May I show you how to brew the perfect cup of tea?”

Mandy looked around to see if anyone was going to come to her aid. Not even Abbie could save her now. After making sure none of the management was around, Mandy handed Crane an apron and shrugged her shoulders. 

“Knock yourself out, dude,” she said, looking as if this was going to give her a few minutes to escape to the back room and check her text messages. 

“Miss Mandy, I already know how to brew the perfect cup of tea. This lesson is for you,” Crane said, slipping the apron on over his coat and tying it behind his back. 

Abbie gave Mandy an apologetic look and Mandy gave Abbie a look that told her with words unspoken to never come back in this establishment again. This was the exact reason Abbie chose this place and not her favorite. 

“First, the tea. We will have to make due with this tea in a bag. It looks decent enough. Smells okay,” Crane said, wafting the aroma of the tea towards him. “I used to prefer loose tea but I am growing accustomed to this modern amenity.”

“Modern?” Mandy asked. Abbie just shrugged her shoulders. Mandy would have to learn to ignore a few things. 

“Yes, modern. And American. Of course... always trying to do everything faster,” Crane said. 

“Hey, you helped make this country what it is,” Abbie said. Now Mandy was even more confused. 

“Yes. Right. In the early 20th century, a New York tea merchant began to send samples of tea to his customers. That tea was in silken bags. The customers wrongly assumed that they were to brew the tea in the bags and thus the tea bag was invented,” Crane said as he went about heating up water to the proper temperature. Abbie was impressed with the amount of Wiki-Knowledge Crane had absorbed in the short amount of time he had been using the computer. She'd have to check out his search history to see what else he enjoyed looking up. Good thing she hadn't taught him to clear his browser history yet. Then again, maybe she didn't want to know what he was into. 

Mandy watched with the focus of a teenager who just didn't care as Crane went about demonstrating how to make the perfect brew. She looked confused when he got into a bit about the kettle and the fire and bricks of tea and Abbie thanked her lucky stars he didn't get into the whole “destruction of the tea” story around Mandy. The barista insisted that he use the filtered water for brewing no matter how much he carried on about how the tap water was just fine. 

Abbie sat on a stool at the counter and watched as he went about expertly preparing three cups of tea. She watched his hands and his fingers as he moved from one thing to the next, testing the temperature of the water and timing how long the bags steeped once the water was perfect. She listened to his voice as he went over each step in detail, making sure Mandy understood what he was doing. It dropped in timbre as he explained each step carefully and his hands fluttered while he worked. Like they always did. 

Abbie realized she had quickly grown to enjoy his company and his friendship and just... him. She liked him. She recently found herself constantly checking her thoughts about his anxious fingers and his rosy lips and pretty mouth and... things she shouldn't think about. He was a married man and she couldn't do that. They would figure out how to free his wife from purgatory someday and he and Katrina would make a life together. He was only her fellow Witness in this war they found themselves in and everything else was completely out of reach. 

He turned and gave her a smile before finally finishing up with their tea. Mandy took a sip of hers and gave a little nod of approval. Crane took off the apron and handed it back to the barista and Abbie settled the bill before they went to sit at one of the quieter tables in the back of the coffee house, both of them drinking their tea in a comfortable silence. 

“That was really good,” Abbie said when she was finished and Crane smiled brightly at the compliment. She was usually a coffee drinker but she could get used to his perfect cup of tea. And someday soon, she would introduce Crane's perfect mouth to the perfect cappuccino. 

That was something that was in reach even if nothing else was. 

The End


End file.
